Racial, Sexist, Homophobic Slurs

I have a sprinkle of African American students, a large group of Hispanic students and our school has few Muslim and Jewish students. They've all heard racial slurs from assholes in the hallway who they don't know. Not often on an everyday basis, but even one time will scar a kid.

Spread the Word to End the Word. The "R" word (retarded) had a huge wave last year with a campaign that the students made against using it in their daily language. They did a banner with students signing it in a pledge not to say the R word. During the campaign all I had heard from the kids was apathy however that's just what kids do instead of giving a compliment for positive efforts. Since that campaign I had seen a clear decrease in the amount of the usage of "retarded" in my classroom. I understand that this data doesn't mean that they aren't using it, however they became more aware of who they could possibly offend.

This is very similar to the situation that the kids hear all of the time where kids make fun of each other as friends say "gay" or "fag" especially if they hear their parents use those words. Try a discussion with the kids in the next GSA meeting about what words offend them with examples. Let them talk to each other without butting in but try to mediate if it gets too heated. You will be surprised at what you might hear. I was. I was surprised to hear that kids within the GSA use typically derogatory words with their own friends. Like how the word queer has been "taken back" by the LGBT youth. Now you see instead of Gay-Straight Alliances you see Queer-Straight Alliances. 

Opening the discussion of these words and how the kids feel about them is the first step in understanding if there are any serious issues to address at the school. For example, if there happens to be a particular teacher who uses insensitive language in the their classroom without thinking if they're offending someone.